University of Calgary political scientist Barry Cooper cites the maxim, “Canadian elections have become opportunities for Ontario to decide how much money the West will send to Quebec.”.It’s funny, but it contains a lot of truth..Regardless of whether Conservatives or Liberals form the government, Alberta contributes billions of extra dollars annually to the federal coffers and Quebec receives billions of extra dollars from those coffers..The federal government has a number of programs that, in effect, redistribute money from wealthier provinces — especially Alberta — to poorer provinces. Among these programs are the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and Canada Social Transfer (CST)..But the most prominent and controversial is the equalization program which provides money to poorer provinces so they can provide their citizens with public services comparable to the wealthier provinces..The history and details of equalization are explained in the 2017 book, Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada: Political and Economic Dimension written by Professor Daniel Béland along with four of his academic colleagues..As they explain, the equalization program was originally created in 1957. Then in 1982, without any controversy, the principle of equalization was constitutionalized..Indeed, the principle of equalization is widely accepted among federal politicians..Béland et al write that, although the Reform Party wanted the program to be more targeted, “all the federal parties supported equalization, possibly in part because of the electoral weight of receiving provinces.”.That latter phrase is key..All the major federal parties want to win seats in Québec, which carries a lot of “electoral weight.” Any party advocating less equalization to Québec will be shut out of power..Even Stephen Harper’s Conservative government catered to Québec on this matter..In March 2005, the Liberal government of Paul Martin created a panel to review the equalization program..It delivered its report in May 2006, after Harper had become prime minister. The report’s recommendations displeased the resource-rich provinces, but Harper implemented those recommendations anyway..As Béland et al explain, “From a political standpoint, implementing the recommendations meant more money for Québec, a province the Conservatives were courting at the time in an effort to secure a majority government at the next federal election.”.Another factor favouring Québec is the monetary benefits of that province’s hydroelectricity are not factored into equalization..In essence, Québec’s formal fiscal capacity, which is used to calculate how much it will receive, is artificially lowered “by allowing provincially owned Hydro-Québec to charge consumers, especially large industrial ones, a price far below the market value.”.In this way, the equalization program “provides incentives for the Québec government to keep its prices and royalties low.”.Another way to put this is that Québec cheats the system in order to get more money from Alberta..Québec, of course, receives more money from the equalization program than any other province. On a per capita basis, some of the smaller provinces receive larger amounts, but in terms of total dollars, Québec gets the most..Béland et al summarize the Québec proportion of total equalization payments this way: “Over the 1980 to 81 to 2015 to 16 time period, the smallest percentage going to Québec was 38% in 2004 to 05, and the largest was 60% in 2008 to 09. However, most years fall into a narrow band of 45 to 55%.”.The fact that Québec benefits disproportionately creates resentment among some people in the West..Béland et al write this situation is “allegedly related to the threat of separation and the need for federal parties to win seats in the province. From this perspective, equalization is frequently understood as a program that funnels enormous amounts of money to Quebec for purely partisan electoral reasons.”.Although they use the word “allegedly” in that statement, they subsequently acknowledge the reality of the situation when they explain that “equalization has most likely helped federalists in Québec make the case against the independence of the province..In fact, the economic argument in favour of Québec remaining part of Canada has often featured references, sometimes explicit and other times implicit, to the equalization program as important to the financing of the province’s social programs.”.To put this same point much more crassly, equalization payments are used to bribe Québec to remain in Canada. If it were to leave Canada, Québec would lose billions of dollars a year in free money — most of which has been taken from Alberta..Let’s face it. As long as Alberta remains in Canada this will be the case. None of the major federal parties will challenge the equalization program because that would mean losing support in Québec. This goes for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party as well..Alberta is Canada’s cash cow and its whipping boy..Changing the boss in Ottawa won’t make much difference because it’s the political system that guarantees central Canada’s dominance..Independence, on the other hand, would put Albertans in control of their own destiny and prevent the constant transfer of their money to the provinces that have “electoral weight.”.This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.
University of Calgary political scientist Barry Cooper cites the maxim, “Canadian elections have become opportunities for Ontario to decide how much money the West will send to Quebec.”.It’s funny, but it contains a lot of truth..Regardless of whether Conservatives or Liberals form the government, Alberta contributes billions of extra dollars annually to the federal coffers and Quebec receives billions of extra dollars from those coffers..The federal government has a number of programs that, in effect, redistribute money from wealthier provinces — especially Alberta — to poorer provinces. Among these programs are the Canada Health Transfer (CHT) and Canada Social Transfer (CST)..But the most prominent and controversial is the equalization program which provides money to poorer provinces so they can provide their citizens with public services comparable to the wealthier provinces..The history and details of equalization are explained in the 2017 book, Fiscal Federalism and Equalization Policy in Canada: Political and Economic Dimension written by Professor Daniel Béland along with four of his academic colleagues..As they explain, the equalization program was originally created in 1957. Then in 1982, without any controversy, the principle of equalization was constitutionalized..Indeed, the principle of equalization is widely accepted among federal politicians..Béland et al write that, although the Reform Party wanted the program to be more targeted, “all the federal parties supported equalization, possibly in part because of the electoral weight of receiving provinces.”.That latter phrase is key..All the major federal parties want to win seats in Québec, which carries a lot of “electoral weight.” Any party advocating less equalization to Québec will be shut out of power..Even Stephen Harper’s Conservative government catered to Québec on this matter..In March 2005, the Liberal government of Paul Martin created a panel to review the equalization program..It delivered its report in May 2006, after Harper had become prime minister. The report’s recommendations displeased the resource-rich provinces, but Harper implemented those recommendations anyway..As Béland et al explain, “From a political standpoint, implementing the recommendations meant more money for Québec, a province the Conservatives were courting at the time in an effort to secure a majority government at the next federal election.”.Another factor favouring Québec is the monetary benefits of that province’s hydroelectricity are not factored into equalization..In essence, Québec’s formal fiscal capacity, which is used to calculate how much it will receive, is artificially lowered “by allowing provincially owned Hydro-Québec to charge consumers, especially large industrial ones, a price far below the market value.”.In this way, the equalization program “provides incentives for the Québec government to keep its prices and royalties low.”.Another way to put this is that Québec cheats the system in order to get more money from Alberta..Québec, of course, receives more money from the equalization program than any other province. On a per capita basis, some of the smaller provinces receive larger amounts, but in terms of total dollars, Québec gets the most..Béland et al summarize the Québec proportion of total equalization payments this way: “Over the 1980 to 81 to 2015 to 16 time period, the smallest percentage going to Québec was 38% in 2004 to 05, and the largest was 60% in 2008 to 09. However, most years fall into a narrow band of 45 to 55%.”.The fact that Québec benefits disproportionately creates resentment among some people in the West..Béland et al write this situation is “allegedly related to the threat of separation and the need for federal parties to win seats in the province. From this perspective, equalization is frequently understood as a program that funnels enormous amounts of money to Quebec for purely partisan electoral reasons.”.Although they use the word “allegedly” in that statement, they subsequently acknowledge the reality of the situation when they explain that “equalization has most likely helped federalists in Québec make the case against the independence of the province..In fact, the economic argument in favour of Québec remaining part of Canada has often featured references, sometimes explicit and other times implicit, to the equalization program as important to the financing of the province’s social programs.”.To put this same point much more crassly, equalization payments are used to bribe Québec to remain in Canada. If it were to leave Canada, Québec would lose billions of dollars a year in free money — most of which has been taken from Alberta..Let’s face it. As long as Alberta remains in Canada this will be the case. None of the major federal parties will challenge the equalization program because that would mean losing support in Québec. This goes for Pierre Poilievre and the Conservative Party as well..Alberta is Canada’s cash cow and its whipping boy..Changing the boss in Ottawa won’t make much difference because it’s the political system that guarantees central Canada’s dominance..Independence, on the other hand, would put Albertans in control of their own destiny and prevent the constant transfer of their money to the provinces that have “electoral weight.”.This is what the Western Standard is up againstThe Trudeau government is funding lies and propaganda by directly subsidizing the mainstream media. They do this to entrench the powerful Eastern, woke and corrupt interests that dominate the political, social and economic institutions in Canada. Federal authorities are constantly trying to censor us and stop us from publishing the stories that they don’t want you to read. Ottawa may weaponize our taxes and police against us, but we’ve got a powerful ally on our side.You. Free men, and free women. We need you to stand with us and become a member of the Western Standard. Here’s what you will get for your membership:Unlimited access to all articles from the Western Standard, Alberta Report, West Coast Standard, and Saskatchewan Standard, with no paywall. Our daily newsletter delivered to your inbox. .Access to exclusive Member-only WS events.Keep the West’s leading independent media voice strong and free.If you can, please support us with a monthly or annual membership. It takes just a moment to set up, and you will be making a big impact on keeping one the last independent media outlets in Canada free from Ottawa’s corrupting influence.